1. Field of the Invention
This application concerns an improved pressure transducer useful to determine oil pressure in an automobile engine and more particularly such a transducer with a housing containing a power transistor and supporting an external heat sink which has a portion in intimate contact with the power transistor to transfer heat generated by the transistor to atmosphere.
2. Description of Related Art
Previously, automakers have utilized electronics to determine fluid pressures such as the oil pressure in an engine. An example of such a device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,989 to Lawless and assigned to Chrysler. In this device a chip is exposed on one side to atmosphere and on the other side to pressurized oil. The resultant stress on the chip produces a small electric signal. A circuit board in the transducer housing processes the signal and outputs a low electrical signal. This low signal is not of sufficient value to operate a warning light or power an oil pressure gage. In automobiles using the above described transducer, the low signal must be further processed and amplified to be useful. This processing is carried out at a remote location in the automobile. It would be desirable to have a pressure transducer with a sufficient output to directly power warning or indicating devices.